Star Wars

[...]

Found this article saying that CGI was not a problem in the prequels. it's a very good read. Take a look.

[Jacky]

We have a director gentlemen

JJ Abrams, hell yes.

 

It’s finally happened, folks.  After weeks of shortlist stories, rumors, and denials, it appears that J.J. Abrams will be directing Star Wars: Episode VII.  Lucasfilm Chief and Star Wars producer Kathleen Kennedy has apparently been courting Abrams for a while, and Abrams himself “revealed” in December that he turned down the directing gig because he’d “rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making the film.”  So much for that.  Hit the jump for more, including who else was in contention for the job.

http://collider.com/j-j-abrams-star-wars/



is it even legal to handle two of the biggest sci-fi series ever, whatever, this is such a perfect choice.

(if any of you fuckers make any more overused lens flare jokes i'm gonna hjsagdfbsdha)

[Carbo]

Not particularly enthralled with this news. The timeless qualities that the original trilogy provided were only possible because of George Lucas at the time being able to enter fresh with so much material to reference that he grew up on and could beam through with his creative vision. It was the reason the franchise managed to stand out and why Lucasfilm was created. It was corporate film making without the corporatism dedicated for young auteurs who were just as much creators as they were fans.

Following up on that I feel they should have done the Iron Man route and attached a lesser "big name" director and let him go nuts with it. The series had the chance to go back to this particular kind of mentality for a new age of film makers, so seeing it not do that is rather disappointing.

[Speederino]

Abrams wasn't exactly my top pick, but I'm not against it either. He certainly can't be worse than Lucas, so that's something.

[...]

Abrams wasn't exactly my top pick, but I'm not against it either. He certainly can't be worse than Lucas, so that's something.

 

I can see it right now.

 

(pleasedontkillme)

Edited January 25, 2013 by Felix

[Speederino]

 

I can see it right now.

 

(pleasedontkillme)

 

I certainly can't deny that he brings a certain flare to the theater.

 

(if any of you fuckers make any more overused lens flare jokes i'm gonna hjsagdfbsdha)

 

Hjsagdfbsdha away.

[Patticus]

Not particularly enthralled with this news. The timeless qualities that the original trilogy provided were only possible because of George Lucas at the time being able to enter fresh with so much material to reference that he grew up on and could beam through with his creative vision. It was the reason the franchise managed to stand out and why Lucasfilm was created. It was corporate film making without the corporatism dedicated for young auteurs who were just as much creators as they were fans.

 

I'm really trying to make sense out of this paragraph, but I'm having trouble.

[Autosaver]

I think what Carbo is saying is that when Lucas was young, he was set out to create his own unique world. He didn't let anyone stop his creativity from reaching miles high.

 

Today? He has lost a lot of his magic. Same with a ton of movie directors. They won't have that same open world that young free thinkers had. I guess this is arguable, but I think we can agree that Lucas has lost his touch.

[Patticus]

I'm not sure you realize exactly how much Lucas' vision was forced to change (and not by his choice) during the creation process. By all accounts, he felt as if his vision, his ideas, his whole concept had been utterly mangled, and was quite shocked when it turned to be a multi-billion-trillion Dollar success story (which obviously healed his wounded ego quite nicely). When he set about making the prequel trilogy, after a decade and a half of technological advancements, Lucas had a level of relatively unfettered creative control which he had never been lucky enough to have before, and it is this part of the reason why the prequel trilogy is so hated -  there was nobody and nothing stopping him from going too far that time around. Lucas and his vision were, in essence, not the main reasons why the first Star Wars films were great.

 

Whether Mr. Abrams can give us a great Star Wars movie remains to be seen. I have really enjoyed some of his work, especially Fringe, and sort of Star Trek too (despite the terrible editing), but I'm going to be cautious about this until we get some solid reviews in. It is very encouraging that the lead writer is of a good pedigree though, so there is certainly plenty of room for hope.

[Stacy]

Be thankful it wasn't Michael Bay.

 

Bay Wars Episode VII: The Byplosion Strikes Back.

 

This coming from someone who enjoys some of Bays films. Even though I am so thankful that he isn't doing Star Wars.

 

Did you know that Abrams wrote Armageddon?

[Carbo]

I don't see what was so weird to understand about my point. My point was that Star Wars at the time ushered a completely new era of film making that was removed from the preconceptions of "big names" and instead turned the spotlight on the new guys. That was what Lucasfilm was all about; not being attached to those big names.

Attaching a big name director to a new Star Wars trilogy feels backwards, as it'll be the very same overproduced kind of vision with no sense of a newcomer's dedication. Just about every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie save for The Avengers was attached to directors that were either fairly new or were out of the regular range you'd expect. Iron Man's director was a new person who mostly dabbled with comedy while the director of Thor only made a name of himself from adapting Shakespeare plays and the result on Disney's part was phenomenal.

I don't see why Star Wars couldn't do the same and similarly go for a new blood director with influence from merely movies, not corporations. Do the same thing that the source material did when it first was created, and represent a new generation of film makers. It's disappointing.

[Speederino]

I take back my last post. Every friggen' thing I've read online in the last 24 hours has been a lens flare joke. Every. Single. Thing. Can we at least wait for a trailer before worrying about it, if nothing else?

[Patticus]

There's going to be some lens flare, but I don't care about it. I'm sure the look of the film will be just fine.

 

J.J. Abrams has done some pretty good things on TV and in cinema, and while he may not have been my personal choice as director for E7, they could have done a lot worse.

[...]

There's going to be lens flare, but I don't care about it.   J.J. Abrams has done some pretty good things on TV and in cinema, and while he may not have been my personal choice as director for E7, they could have done a lot worse.

I agree. J.J. is a very good filmmaker, but I would've gone along the lines for someone like Matthew Vaughn.

[Speederino]

The more I think about it, I have to admit I'm starting to really warm up to the idea of Abrams directing it. I am *NOT* trying to be cheeky or anything here because I really liked  Star Trek '09, but when you get down to it, it really was a remake of A New Hope. Don't believe me?

 

 

My point is, he's definitely proven he has the right style for directing a Star Wars movie. He's guaranteed to at least do a better job than Lucas did with the prequels, even if his version doesn't live up to the originals (and let's be honest, could ANYTHING ever live up to those?)

[...]

If there's another thing I love about Star Wars, it's the theatrical posters. My personal favorites are the Empire Strikes Back poster by Tom Jung, Return Of The Jedi poster by Kazuhiko Sano, The Empire Strikes Back Special Edition poster by Drew Struzan, and The Phantom Menace poster also by Struzan.

 

Edited January 26, 2013 by Felix

[Toothpaste]

I was really surprised about J.J Abrams directing the new Star Wars, I refused to believe it until it was officially confirmed. I guess you could say it's like if Nintendo were developing the next Sonic game. A weird concept to accept at first, but could turn out really well with the right amount of love and care. Makes the wait more interesting that's for sure.

 

Getting back to The Clone Wars, how about that Maul/Death Watch arc? Things took a dark turn pretty quickly. If you haven't seen the two episodes (well, three since Revival is technically part 1) aired so far, they're well worth your time. 

 

Spoiler'd just in case:

-I was right, lots of death so far and the arc isn't even done yet

-That Maul/Pre Vizsla duel was intense. Easily one of my favourite fight scenes in all of Star Wars.

-Savage used Force Repulse again. Badass.

-Savage beheading all those Black Sun members with one throw of his lightsaber was pretty brutal. Wow.

-I love the little details they give Savage, especially sound-wise. He really is like...a savage. His breathing noises and lightsaber ignition remind me of a bull, and he roars like a lion when he fights Embo. He also hits his head on a light which was kind of humorous. 

-Only odd thing that stuck out to me was how Vizsla got so powerful all of a sudden. In previous seasons he did terrible against Obi-Wan and okay against Ahsoka. Now he was suddenly able to beat Savage and last a good while against Maul. But we did get a damn good fight scene out of it.

 

Can't wait for next week. You know things are going to get crazy when Sidious actually shows up in person.

[...]

I was really surprised about J.J Abrams directing the new Star Wars, I refused to believe it until it was officially confirmed. I guess you could say it's like if Nintendo were developing the next Sonic game. A weird concept to accept at first, but could turn out really well with the right amount of love and care. Makes the wait more interesting that's for sure.

 

Getting back to The Clone Wars, how about that Maul/Death Watch arc? Things took a dark turn pretty quickly. If you haven't seen the two episodes (well, three since Revival is technically part 1) aired so far, they're well worth your time. 

 

Spoiler'd just in case:

-I was right, lots of death so far and the arc isn't even done yet

-That Maul/Pre Vizsla duel was intense. Easily one of my favourite fight scenes in all of Star Wars.

-Savage used Force Repulse again. Badass.

-Savage beheading all those Black Sun members with one throw of his lightsaber was pretty brutal. Wow.

-I love the little details they give Savage, especially sound-wise. He really is like...a savage. His breathing noises and lightsaber ignition remind me of a bull, and he roars like a lion when he fights Embo. He also hits his head on a light which was kind of humorous. 

-Only odd thing that stuck out to me was how Vizsla got so powerful all of a sudden. In previous seasons he did terrible against Obi-Wan and okay against Ahsoka. Now he was suddenly able to beat Savage and last a good while against Maul. But we did get a damn good fight scene out of it.

 

Can't wait for next week. You know things are going to get crazy when Sidious actually shows up in person.

 

Me too, I'm loving the Maul/Death Watch arc, great to refresh from how painfully boring the droid arc was. 

[Rinzler]

I don't want to start more prequel bashing, but IMHO these eps prove that Darth Maul should never have died in the first place. His character might be a bit bland right now, but he;s still a lot more interesting compared to how he was in Ep1 and every episode that he has been in has been great.

[...]

I don't want to start more prequel bashing, but IMHO these eps prove that Darth Maul should never have died in the first place. His character might be a bit bland right now, but he;s still a lot more interesting compared to how he was in Ep1 and every episode that he has been in has been great.

 

I agree. Darth Maul had lots of potential to be a great villain, but all he had was a measly appearance in one film, having two lines, having a lightsaber fight, and then simply getting killed off at the end. The Clone Wars is doing a good job at fleshing out his character as a whole, and making me appreciate him more.

[Speederino]

I agree. Darth Maul had lots of potential to be a great villain, but all he had was a measly appearance in one film, having two lines, having a lightsaber fight, and then simply getting killed off at the end. The Clone Wars is doing a good job at fleshing out his character as a whole, and making me appreciate him more.

 

I think his general silence kind of added to his appeal. Like he doesn't waste time with talking, he just whoops your ass.

[Toothpaste]

What's kind of funny is that since we got to see a bit of Savage's background before the Nightsisters made him evil, I actually like him a bit more than Maul. It's tragic how Savage became a monster after the lengths he went to make sure Ventress wouldn't kill his brother, and is then forced to kill said brother.

 

With Maul's silence, I guess it can go both ways. The Black Sun scene would have been more ominous if Maul said maybe one line and then let Savage do his thing when the crime lords don't cooperate. On the other hand, Maul challenging Pre Vizsla to a duel wouldn't have been as epic if Maul silently walked in, leaving Vizsla to figure out he wants to duel and then give his lightsaber back to him. Sam Witwer being cast to voice Maul was a great choice.

Edited January 26, 2013 by Toothpaste

[...]

Been wondering, does anyone visit TheForce.Net, or have an account there? I have an account on their forums, and they're my main news source for anything Star Wars-related.

[Rinzler]

I went on the forums once and I just saw a lot of complaining about Darth Maul's return and how the entire SCW series was an asspull. So yeah not my cup of tea.

 

The website does have excellent reviews of each episode though, which is the main reason I go there.

[...]

Looks like we're not gonna be seeing AOTC or ROTS in 3D. Guess this means the end of the OT in 3D as well. Edited January 28, 2013 by Felix